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Christian Brabandt45e07042024-11-11 20:52:55 +01001*gui.txt* For Vim version 9.1. Last change: 2024 Nov 07
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7Vim's Graphical User Interface *gui* *GUI*
8
91. Starting the GUI |gui-start|
102. Scrollbars |gui-scrollbars|
113. Mouse Control |gui-mouse|
124. Making GUI Selections |gui-selections|
135. Menus |menus|
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +0200146. Font |gui-font|
157. Extras |gui-extras|
168. Shell Commands |gui-shell|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000017
18Other GUI documentation:
19|gui_x11.txt| For specific items of the X11 GUI.
20|gui_w32.txt| For specific items of the Win32 GUI.
21
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000022
23==============================================================================
241. Starting the GUI *gui-start* *E229* *E233*
25
26First you must make sure you actually have a version of Vim with the GUI code
Bram Moolenaar5e3cb7e2006-02-27 23:58:35 +000027included. You can check this with the ":version" command, it says "with xxx
Bram Moolenaar0b962e52022-04-03 18:02:37 +010028GUI", where "xxx" is X11-Motif, Photon, GTK2, GTK3, etc., or
Bram Moolenaar5e3cb7e2006-02-27 23:58:35 +000029"MS-Windows 32 bit GUI version".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000030
31How to start the GUI depends on the system used. Mostly you can run the
32GUI version of Vim with:
33 gvim [options] [files...]
34
35The X11 version of Vim can run both in GUI and in non-GUI mode. See
36|gui-x11-start|.
37
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +010038 *gui-init* *gvimrc* *.gvimrc* *_gvimrc* *$MYGVIMRC*
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +000039The gvimrc file is where GUI-specific startup commands should be placed. It
40is always sourced after the |vimrc| file. If you have one then the $MYGVIMRC
41environment variable has its name.
42
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000043When the GUI starts up initializations are carried out, in this order:
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +010044- The 'term' option is set to "builtin_gui" and terminal options are reset to
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +000045 their default value for the GUI |terminal-options|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000046- If the system menu file exists, it is sourced. The name of this file is
47 normally "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim". You can check this with ":version". Also
48 see |$VIMRUNTIME|. To skip loading the system menu include 'M' in
49 'guioptions'. *buffers-menu* *no_buffers_menu*
50 The system menu file includes a "Buffers" menu. If you don't want this, set
51 the "no_buffers_menu" variable in your .vimrc (not .gvimrc!): >
52 :let no_buffers_menu = 1
53< NOTE: Switching on syntax highlighting also loads the menu file, thus
54 disabling the Buffers menu must be done before ":syntax on".
55 The path names are truncated to 35 characters. You can truncate them at a
56 different length, for example 50, like this: >
57 :let bmenu_max_pathlen = 50
58- If the "-U {gvimrc}" command-line option has been used when starting Vim,
59 the {gvimrc} file will be read for initializations. The following
Bram Moolenaar81695252004-12-29 20:58:21 +000060 initializations are skipped. When {gvimrc} is "NONE" no file will be read
61 for initializations.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000062- For Unix and MS-Windows, if the system gvimrc exists, it is sourced. The
63 name of this file is normally "$VIM/gvimrc". You can check this with
64 ":version". Also see |$VIM|.
65- The following are tried, and only the first one that exists is used:
66 - If the GVIMINIT environment variable exists and is not empty, it is
67 executed as an Ex command.
68 - If the user gvimrc file exists, it is sourced. The name of this file is
69 normally "$HOME/.gvimrc". You can check this with ":version".
Bram Moolenaarc572da52017-08-27 16:52:01 +020070 - For Win32, $HOME is set by Vim if needed, see |$HOME-windows|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000071 - When a "_gvimrc" file is not found, ".gvimrc" is tried too. And vice
72 versa.
Maxim Kima34ba822024-04-17 22:29:06 +020073 - On Unix, if "~/.config/vim/gvimrc" or "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim/gvimrc"
74 exists, it is sourced. You can check this with ":version".
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +000075 The name of the first file found is stored in $MYGVIMRC, unless it was
76 already set.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000077- If the 'exrc' option is set (which is NOT the default) the file ./.gvimrc
78 is sourced, if it exists and isn't the same file as the system or user
79 gvimrc file. If this file is not owned by you, some security restrictions
80 apply. When ".gvimrc" is not found, "_gvimrc" is tried too. For Macintosh
81 and DOS/Win32 "_gvimrc" is tried first.
82
83NOTE: All but the first one are not carried out if Vim was started with
Bram Moolenaarb6e0ec62017-07-23 22:12:20 +020084"-u NONE" or "-u DEFAULTS" and no "-U" argument was given, or when started
85with "-U NONE".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000086
87All this happens AFTER the normal Vim initializations, like reading your
88.vimrc file. See |initialization|.
89But the GUI window is only opened after all the initializations have been
90carried out. If you want some commands to be executed just after opening the
91GUI window, use the |GUIEnter| autocommand event. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar648120b2005-08-08 21:57:35 +000092 :autocmd GUIEnter * winpos 100 50
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000093
94You can use the gvimrc files to set up your own customized menus (see |:menu|)
95and initialize other things that you may want to set up differently from the
96terminal version.
97
98Recommended place for your personal GUI initializations:
Bram Moolenaar22971aa2013-06-12 20:35:58 +020099 Unix $HOME/.gvimrc or $HOME/.vim/gvimrc
Bram Moolenaar938ae282023-02-20 20:44:55 +0000100 Win32 $HOME/_gvimrc, $HOME/vimfiles/gvimrc
Bram Moolenaar22971aa2013-06-12 20:35:58 +0200101 or $VIM/_gvimrc
102 Amiga s:.gvimrc, home:.gvimrc, home:vimfiles:gvimrc
103 or $VIM/.gvimrc
Bram Moolenaar938ae282023-02-20 20:44:55 +0000104 Haiku $HOME/config/settings/vim/gvimrc
Bram Moolenaar22971aa2013-06-12 20:35:58 +0200105
106The personal initialization files are searched in the order specified above
107and only the first one that is found is read.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000108
109There are a number of options which only have meaning in the GUI version of
110Vim. These are 'guicursor', 'guifont', 'guipty' and 'guioptions'. They are
111documented in |options.txt| with all the other options.
112
Bram Moolenaar0b962e52022-04-03 18:02:37 +0100113If using the Motif version of the GUI (but not for the GTK+ or
Bram Moolenaar843ee412004-06-30 16:16:41 +0000114Win32 version), a number of X resources are available. See |gui-resources|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000115
116Another way to set the colors for different occasions is with highlight
117groups. The "Normal" group is used to set the background and foreground
118colors. Example (which looks nice): >
119
120 :highlight Normal guibg=grey90
121
122The "guibg" and "guifg" settings override the normal background and
123foreground settings. The other settings for the Normal highlight group are
124not used. Use the 'guifont' option to set the font.
125
126Also check out the 'guicursor' option, to set the colors for the cursor in
127various modes.
128
129Vim tries to make the window fit on the screen when it starts up. This avoids
130that you can't see part of it. On the X Window System this requires a bit of
131guesswork. You can change the height that is used for the window title and a
132task bar with the 'guiheadroom' option.
133
134 *:winp* *:winpos* *E188*
135:winp[os]
136 Display current position of the top left corner of the GUI vim
137 window in pixels. Does not work in all versions.
Bram Moolenaarb5b75622018-03-09 22:22:21 +0100138 Also see |getwinpos()|, |getwinposx()| and |getwinposy()|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000139
140:winp[os] {X} {Y} *E466*
141 Put the GUI vim window at the given {X} and {Y} coordinates.
142 The coordinates should specify the position in pixels of the
143 top left corner of the window. Does not work in all versions.
144 Does work in an (new) xterm |xterm-color|.
145 When the GUI window has not been opened yet, the values are
146 remembered until the window is opened. The position is
147 adjusted to make the window fit on the screen (if possible).
148
Bram Moolenaar71badf92023-04-22 22:40:14 +0100149 *:wi* *:win* *:winsize* *E465*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000150:win[size] {width} {height}
151 Set the window height to {width} by {height} characters.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +0000152 It is recommended to use `:set lines=11 columns=22` instead,
153 since it's easy to see what the numbers mean.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000154 If you get less lines than expected, check the 'guiheadroom'
155 option.
156
157If you are running the X Window System, you can get information about the
Bram Moolenaar08589172014-03-08 18:38:28 +0100158window Vim is running in with these commands: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000159 :!xwininfo -id $WINDOWID
Bram Moolenaar08589172014-03-08 18:38:28 +0100160 :!xprop -id $WINDOWID
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +0000161 :execute '!xwininfo -id ' .. v:windowid
162 :execute '!xprop -id ' .. v:windowid
Bram Moolenaar5302d9e2011-09-14 17:55:08 +0200163<
164 *gui-IME* *iBus*
165Input methods for international characters in X that rely on the XIM
166framework, most notably iBus, have been known to produce undesirable results
Bram Moolenaarb0d45e72017-11-05 18:19:24 +0100167in gvim. These may include an inability to enter spaces, or long delays
Bram Moolenaar5302d9e2011-09-14 17:55:08 +0200168between typing a character and it being recognized by the application.
169
170One workaround that has been successful, for unknown reasons, is to prevent
171gvim from forking into the background by starting it with the |-f| argument.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000172
173==============================================================================
1742. Scrollbars *gui-scrollbars*
175
Bram Moolenaarfd371682005-01-14 21:42:54 +0000176There are vertical scrollbars and a horizontal scrollbar. You may
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000177configure which ones appear with the 'guioptions' option.
178
179The interface looks like this (with ":set guioptions=mlrb"):
180
Bram Moolenaar166af9b2010-11-16 20:34:40 +0100181 +------------------------------+ `
182 | File Edit Help | <- Menu bar (m) `
183 +-+--------------------------+-+ `
184 |^| |^| `
185 |#| Text area. |#| `
186 | | | | `
187 |v|__________________________|v| `
188 Normal status line -> |-+ File.c 5,2 +-| `
189 between Vim windows |^|""""""""""""""""""""""""""|^| `
190 | | | | `
191 | | Another file buffer. | | `
192 | | | | `
193 |#| |#| `
194 Left scrollbar (l) -> |#| |#| <- Right `
195 |#| |#| scrollbar (r) `
196 | | | | `
197 |v| |v| `
198 +-+--------------------------+-+ `
199 | |< #### >| | <- Bottom `
200 +-+--------------------------+-+ scrollbar (b) `
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000201
202Any of the scrollbar or menu components may be turned off by not putting the
203appropriate letter in the 'guioptions' string. The bottom scrollbar is
204only useful when 'nowrap' is set.
205
206
207VERTICAL SCROLLBARS *gui-vert-scroll*
208
209Each Vim window has a scrollbar next to it which may be scrolled up and down
210to move through the text in that buffer. The size of the scrollbar-thumb
211indicates the fraction of the buffer which can be seen in the window.
212When the scrollbar is dragged all the way down, the last line of the file
213will appear in the top of the window.
214
215If a window is shrunk to zero height (by the growth of another window) its
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000216scrollbar disappears. It reappears when the window is restored.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000217
218If a window is vertically split, it will get a scrollbar when it is the
219current window and when, taking the middle of the current window and drawing a
220vertical line, this line goes through the window.
221When there are scrollbars on both sides, and the middle of the current window
222is on the left half, the right scrollbar column will contain scrollbars for
223the rightmost windows. The same happens on the other side.
224
225
226HORIZONTAL SCROLLBARS *gui-horiz-scroll*
227
228The horizontal scrollbar (at the bottom of the Vim GUI) may be used to
229scroll text sideways when the 'wrap' option is turned off. The
230scrollbar-thumb size is such that the text of the longest visible line may be
231scrolled as far as possible left and right. The cursor is moved when
232necessary, it must remain on a visible character (unless 'virtualedit' is
233set).
234
Bram Moolenaarfd371682005-01-14 21:42:54 +0000235Computing the length of the longest visible line takes quite a bit of
236computation, and it has to be done every time something changes. If this
237takes too much time or you don't like the cursor jumping to another line,
238include the 'h' flag in 'guioptions'. Then the scrolling is limited by the
239text of the current cursor line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000240
Bram Moolenaar0b962e52022-04-03 18:02:37 +0100241 *motif-intellimouse*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000242If you have an Intellimouse and an X server that supports using the wheel,
243then you can use the wheel to scroll the text up and down in gvim. This works
244with XFree86 4.0 and later, and with some older versions when you add patches.
245See |scroll-mouse-wheel|.
246
247For older versions of XFree86 you must patch your X server. The following
248page has a bit of information about using the Intellimouse on Linux as well as
249links to the patches and X server binaries (may not have the one you need
250though):
251 http://www.inria.fr/koala/colas/mouse-wheel-scroll/
252
253==============================================================================
2543. Mouse Control *gui-mouse*
255
256The mouse only works if the appropriate flag in the 'mouse' option is set.
257When the GUI is switched on, and 'mouse' wasn't set yet, the 'mouse' option is
258automatically set to "a", enabling it for all modes except for the
259|hit-enter| prompt. If you don't want this, a good place to change the
260'mouse' option is the "gvimrc" file.
261
262Other options that are relevant:
263'mousefocus' window focus follows mouse pointer |gui-mouse-focus|
264'mousemodel' what mouse button does which action
265'mousehide' hide mouse pointer while typing text
Ernie Raelc4cb5442022-04-03 15:47:28 +0100266'mousemoveevent' enable mouse move events so that <MouseMove> can be mapped
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000267'selectmode' whether to start Select mode or Visual mode
268
269A quick way to set these is with the ":behave" command.
270 *:behave* *:be*
271:be[have] {model} Set behavior for mouse and selection. Valid
272 arguments are:
273 mswin MS-Windows behavior
274 xterm Xterm behavior
275
276 Using ":behave" changes these options:
277 option mswin xterm ~
278 'selectmode' "mouse,key" ""
279 'mousemodel' "popup" "extend"
280 'keymodel' "startsel,stopsel" ""
281 'selection' "exclusive" "inclusive"
282
283In the $VIMRUNTIME directory, there is a script called |mswin.vim|, which will
284also map a few keys to the MS-Windows cut/copy/paste commands. This is NOT
285compatible, since it uses the CTRL-V, CTRL-X and CTRL-C keys. If you don't
286mind, use this command: >
287 :so $VIMRUNTIME/mswin.vim
288
289For scrolling with a wheel on a mouse, see |scroll-mouse-wheel|.
290
291
2923.1 Moving Cursor with Mouse *gui-mouse-move*
293
294Click the left mouse button somewhere in a text buffer where you want the
295cursor to go, and it does!
296This works in when 'mouse' contains ~
297Normal mode 'n' or 'a'
298Visual mode 'v' or 'a'
299Insert mode 'i' or 'a'
300
301Select mode is handled like Visual mode.
302
303You may use this with an operator such as 'd' to delete text from the current
304cursor position to the position you point to with the mouse. That is, you hit
305'd' and then click the mouse somewhere.
306
307 *gui-mouse-focus*
308The 'mousefocus' option can be set to make the keyboard focus follow the
309mouse pointer. This means that the window where the mouse pointer is, is the
310active window. Warning: this doesn't work very well when using a menu,
311because the menu command will always be applied to the top window.
312
313If you are on the ':' line (or '/' or '?'), then clicking the left or right
314mouse button will position the cursor on the ':' line (if 'mouse' contains
Bram Moolenaar09c6f262019-11-17 15:55:14 +0100315'c' or 'a').
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000316
317In any situation the middle mouse button may be clicked to paste the current
318selection.
319
320
3213.2 Selection with Mouse *gui-mouse-select*
322
323The mouse can be used to start a selection. How depends on the 'mousemodel'
324option:
325'mousemodel' is "extend": use the right mouse button
326'mousemodel' is "popup": use the left mouse button, while keeping the Shift
327key pressed.
328
329If there was no selection yet, this starts a selection from the old cursor
330position to the position pointed to with the mouse. If there already is a
331selection then the closest end will be extended.
332
333If 'selectmode' contains "mouse", then the selection will be in Select mode.
334This means that typing normal text will replace the selection. See
335|Select-mode|. Otherwise, the selection will be in Visual mode.
336
337Double clicking may be done to make the selection word-wise, triple clicking
338makes it line-wise, and quadruple clicking makes it rectangular block-wise.
339
340See |gui-selections| on how the selection is used.
341
342
3433.3 Other Text Selection with Mouse *gui-mouse-modeless*
344 *modeless-selection*
345A different kind of selection is used when:
346- in Command-line mode
347- in the Command-line window and pointing in another window
348- at the |hit-enter| prompt
349- whenever the current mode is not in the 'mouse' option
350- when holding the CTRL and SHIFT keys in the GUI
Bram Moolenaara7241f52008-06-24 20:39:31 +0000351
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000352Since Vim continues like the selection isn't there, and there is no mode
353associated with the selection, this is called modeless selection. Any text in
354the Vim window can be selected. Select the text by pressing the left mouse
355button at the start, drag to the end and release. To extend the selection,
356use the right mouse button when 'mousemodel' is "extend", or the left mouse
357button with the shift key pressed when 'mousemodel' is "popup".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000358The selection is removed when the selected text is scrolled or changed.
Bram Moolenaara7241f52008-06-24 20:39:31 +0000359
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000360On the command line CTRL-Y can be used to copy the selection into the
Bram Moolenaara7241f52008-06-24 20:39:31 +0000361clipboard. To do this from Insert mode, use CTRL-O : CTRL-Y <CR>. When
362'guioptions' contains a or A (default on X11), the selection is automatically
363copied to the "* register.
364
365The middle mouse button can then paste the text. On non-X11 systems, you can
366use CTRL-R +.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000367
368
3693.4 Using Mouse on Status Lines *gui-mouse-status*
370
371Clicking the left or right mouse button on the status line below a Vim
372window makes that window the current window. This actually happens on button
373release (to be able to distinguish a click from a drag action).
374
375With the left mouse button a status line can be dragged up and down, thus
376resizing the windows above and below it. This does not change window focus.
377
378The same can be used on the vertical separator: click to give the window left
379of it focus, drag left and right to make windows wider and narrower.
380
381
3823.5 Various Mouse Clicks *gui-mouse-various*
383
384 <S-LeftMouse> Search forward for the word under the mouse click.
385 When 'mousemodel' is "popup" this starts or extends a
386 selection.
387 <S-RightMouse> Search backward for the word under the mouse click.
388 <C-LeftMouse> Jump to the tag name under the mouse click.
389 <C-RightMouse> Jump back to position before the previous tag jump
390 (same as "CTRL-T")
391
392
3933.6 Mouse Mappings *gui-mouse-mapping*
394
395The mouse events, complete with modifiers, may be mapped. Eg: >
396 :map <S-LeftMouse> <RightMouse>
397 :map <S-LeftDrag> <RightDrag>
398 :map <S-LeftRelease> <RightRelease>
399 :map <2-S-LeftMouse> <2-RightMouse>
400 :map <2-S-LeftDrag> <2-RightDrag>
401 :map <2-S-LeftRelease> <2-RightRelease>
402 :map <3-S-LeftMouse> <3-RightMouse>
403 :map <3-S-LeftDrag> <3-RightDrag>
404 :map <3-S-LeftRelease> <3-RightRelease>
405 :map <4-S-LeftMouse> <4-RightMouse>
406 :map <4-S-LeftDrag> <4-RightDrag>
407 :map <4-S-LeftRelease> <4-RightRelease>
408These mappings make selection work the way it probably should in a Motif
409application, with shift-left mouse allowing for extending the visual area
410rather than the right mouse button.
411
Ernie Raelc4cb5442022-04-03 15:47:28 +0100412<MouseMove> may be mapped, but 'mousemoveevent' must be enabled to use the
413mapping.
414
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000415Mouse mapping with modifiers does not work for modeless selection.
416
417
4183.7 Drag and drop *drag-n-drop*
419
420You can drag and drop one or more files into the Vim window, where they will
Bram Moolenaar90df4b92021-07-07 20:26:08 +0200421be opened as if a |:drop| command was used. You can check if this is
422supported with the *drop_file* feature: `has('drop_file')`.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000423
424If you hold down Shift while doing this, Vim changes to the first dropped
425file's directory. If you hold Ctrl Vim will always split a new window for the
426file. Otherwise it's only done if the current buffer has been changed.
427
428You can also drop a directory on Vim. This starts the explorer plugin for
429that directory (assuming it was enabled, otherwise you'll get an error
430message). Keep Shift pressed to change to the directory instead.
431
432If Vim happens to be editing a command line, the names of the dropped files
433and directories will be inserted at the cursor. This allows you to use these
434names with any Ex command. Special characters (space, tab, double quote and
435'|'; backslash on non-MS-Windows systems) will be escaped.
436
437==============================================================================
4384. Making GUI Selections *gui-selections*
439
440 *quotestar*
441You may make selections with the mouse (see |gui-mouse-select|), or by using
442Vim's Visual mode (see |v|). If 'a' is present in 'guioptions', then
443whenever a selection is started (Visual or Select mode), or when the selection
444is changed, Vim becomes the owner of the windowing system's primary selection
445(on MS-Windows the |gui-clipboard| is used; under X11, the |x11-selection| is
446used - you should read whichever of these is appropriate now).
447
448 *clipboard*
449There is a special register for storing this selection, it is the "*
450register. Nothing is put in here unless the information about what text is
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000451selected is about to change (e.g. with a left mouse click somewhere), or when
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000452another application wants to paste the selected text. Then the text is put
453in the "* register. For example, to cut a line and make it the current
454selection/put it on the clipboard: >
455
456 "*dd
457
458Similarly, when you want to paste a selection from another application, e.g.,
459by clicking the middle mouse button, the selection is put in the "* register
460first, and then 'put' like any other register. For example, to put the
461selection (contents of the clipboard): >
462
463 "*p
464
465When using this register under X11, also see |x11-selection|. This also
466explains the related "+ register.
467
468Note that when pasting text from one Vim into another separate Vim, the type
469of selection (character, line, or block) will also be copied. For other
470applications the type is always character. However, if the text gets
471transferred via the |x11-cut-buffer|, the selection type is ALWAYS lost.
472
473When the "unnamed" string is included in the 'clipboard' option, the unnamed
474register is the same as the "* register. Thus you can yank to and paste the
475selection without prepending "* to commands.
476
Christian Brabandt45e07042024-11-11 20:52:55 +0100477See also |W23|.
478
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000479==============================================================================
4805. Menus *menus*
481
482For an introduction see |usr_42.txt| in the user manual.
483
484
4855.1 Using Menus *using-menus*
486
487Basically, menus can be used just like mappings. You can define your own
488menus, as many as you like.
489Long-time Vim users won't use menus much. But the power is in adding your own
490menus and menu items. They are most useful for things that you can't remember
491what the key sequence was.
492
493For creating menus in a different language, see |:menutrans|.
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100494If you don't want to use menus at all, see |'go-M'|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000495
496 *menu.vim*
497The default menus are read from the file "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim". See
498|$VIMRUNTIME| for where the path comes from. You can set up your own menus.
499Starting off with the default set is a good idea. You can add more items, or,
500if you don't like the defaults at all, start with removing all menus
501|:unmenu-all|. You can also avoid the default menus being loaded by adding
502this line to your .vimrc file (NOT your .gvimrc file!): >
K.Takataca4b81a2024-05-01 18:35:32 +0900503 :let g:did_install_default_menus = 1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000504If you also want to avoid the Syntax menu: >
K.Takataca4b81a2024-05-01 18:35:32 +0900505 :let g:did_install_syntax_menu = 1
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100506The first item in the Syntax menu can be used to show all available filetypes
507in the menu (which can take a bit of time to load). If you want to have all
508filetypes already present at startup, add: >
K.Takataca4b81a2024-05-01 18:35:32 +0900509 :let g:do_syntax_sel_menu = 1
510< *menu-lazyload* *g:do_no_lazyload_menus*
Bram Moolenaar040c1fe2017-11-09 19:45:48 +0100511The following menuitems show all available color schemes, keymaps and compiler
512settings:
513 Edit > Color Scheme ~
514 Edit > Keymap ~
515 Tools > Set Compiler ~
516However, they can also take a bit of time to load, because they search all
517related files from the directories in 'runtimepath'. Therefore they are
518loaded lazily (by the |CursorHold| event), or you can also load them manually.
519If you want to have all these items already present at startup, add: >
K.Takataca4b81a2024-05-01 18:35:32 +0900520 :let g:do_no_lazyload_menus = 1
Bram Moolenaar040c1fe2017-11-09 19:45:48 +0100521
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100522Note that the menu.vim is sourced when `:syntax on` or `:filetype on` is
523executed or after your .vimrc file is sourced. This means that the 'encoding'
524option and the language of messages (`:language messages`) must be set before
525that (if you want to change them).
526
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000527 *console-menus*
528Although this documentation is in the GUI section, you can actually use menus
529in console mode too. You will have to load |menu.vim| explicitly then, it is
530not done by default. You can use the |:emenu| command and command-line
531completion with 'wildmenu' to access the menu entries almost like a real menu
532system. To do this, put these commands in your .vimrc file: >
533 :source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim
534 :set wildmenu
535 :set cpo-=<
536 :set wcm=<C-Z>
537 :map <F4> :emenu <C-Z>
538Pressing <F4> will start the menu. You can now use the cursor keys to select
539a menu entry. Hit <Enter> to execute it. Hit <Esc> if you want to cancel.
540This does require the |+menu| feature enabled at compile time.
541
542 *tear-off-menus*
Bram Moolenaar98921892016-02-23 17:14:37 +0100543GTK+ 2 and Motif support Tear-off menus. These are sort of sticky menus or
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000544pop-up menus that are present all the time. If the resizing does not work
545correctly, this may be caused by using something like "Vim*geometry" in the
546defaults. Use "Vim.geometry" instead.
547
Bram Moolenaar98921892016-02-23 17:14:37 +0100548As to GTK+ 3, tear-off menus have been deprecated since GTK+ 3.4.
549Accordingly, they are disabled if gvim is linked against GTK+ 3.4 or later.
550
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000551The Win32 GUI version emulates Motif's tear-off menus. Actually, a Motif user
552will spot the differences easily, but hopefully they're just as useful. You
553can also use the |:tearoff| command together with |hidden-menus| to create
554floating menus that do not appear on the main menu bar.
555
556
5575.2 Creating New Menus *creating-menus*
558
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +0200559 *:me* *:menu* *:noreme* *:noremenu*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000560 *E330* *E327* *E331* *E336* *E333*
Bram Moolenaard5ab34b2007-05-05 17:15:44 +0000561 *E328* *E329* *E337* *E792*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000562To create a new menu item, use the ":menu" commands. They are mostly like
Bram Moolenaar5ef1c6a2019-11-10 22:09:11 +0100563the ":map" set of commands (see |map-modes|), but the first argument is a menu
564item name, given as a path of menus and submenus with a '.' between them,
565e.g.: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000566
567 :menu File.Save :w<CR>
568 :inoremenu File.Save <C-O>:w<CR>
569 :menu Edit.Big\ Changes.Delete\ All\ Spaces :%s/[ ^I]//g<CR>
570
571This last one will create a new item in the menu bar called "Edit", holding
572the mouse button down on this will pop up a menu containing the item
573"Big Changes", which is a sub-menu containing the item "Delete All Spaces",
574which when selected, performs the operation.
575
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +0200576To create a menu for terminal mode, use |:tlmenu| instead of |:tmenu| unlike
577key mapping (|:tmap|). This is because |:tmenu| is already used for defining
578tooltips for menus. See |terminal-typing|.
579
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000580Special characters in a menu name:
581
Bram Moolenaar0eabd4d2020-03-15 16:13:53 +0100582 *menu-shortcut*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000583 & The next character is the shortcut key. Make sure each
584 shortcut key is only used once in a (sub)menu. If you want to
585 insert a literal "&" in the menu name use "&&".
Bram Moolenaar0eabd4d2020-03-15 16:13:53 +0100586 *menu-text*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000587 <Tab> Separates the menu name from right-aligned text. This can be
588 used to show the equivalent typed command. The text "<Tab>"
589 can be used here for convenience. If you are using a real
Bram Moolenaarb5ba0022007-05-12 13:06:29 +0000590 tab, don't forget to put a backslash before it!
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000591Example: >
592
593 :amenu &File.&Open<Tab>:e :browse e<CR>
594
595[typed literally]
596With the shortcut "F" (while keeping the <Alt> key pressed), and then "O",
597this menu can be used. The second part is shown as "Open :e". The ":e"
598is right aligned, and the "O" is underlined, to indicate it is the shortcut.
599
Bram Moolenaard58a3bf2020-09-28 21:48:16 +0200600 *:am* *:amenu* *:an* *:anoremenu*
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +0200601The ":amenu" command can be used to define menu entries for all modes at once,
602except for Terminal mode. To make the command work correctly, a character is
603automatically inserted for some modes:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000604 mode inserted appended ~
605 Normal nothing nothing
606 Visual <C-C> <C-\><C-G>
Bram Moolenaar00a927d2010-05-14 23:24:24 +0200607 Insert <C-\><C-O>
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000608 Cmdline <C-C> <C-\><C-G>
609 Op-pending <C-C> <C-\><C-G>
610
611Appending CTRL-\ CTRL-G is for going back to insert mode when 'insertmode' is
612set. |CTRL-\_CTRL-G|
613
614Example: >
615
616 :amenu File.Next :next^M
617
618is equal to: >
619
620 :nmenu File.Next :next^M
621 :vmenu File.Next ^C:next^M^\^G
Bram Moolenaar00a927d2010-05-14 23:24:24 +0200622 :imenu File.Next ^\^O:next^M
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000623 :cmenu File.Next ^C:next^M^\^G
624 :omenu File.Next ^C:next^M^\^G
625
626Careful: In Insert mode this only works for a SINGLE Normal mode command,
627because of the CTRL-O. If you have two or more commands, you will need to use
628the ":imenu" command. For inserting text in any mode, you can use the
629expression register: >
630
631 :amenu Insert.foobar "='foobar'<CR>P
632
Bram Moolenaar4c295022021-05-02 17:19:11 +0200633The special text <Cmd> begins a "command menu", it executes the command
634directly without changing modes. Where you might use ":...<CR>" you can
635instead use "<Cmd>...<CR>". See |<Cmd>| for more info. Example: >
636 anoremenu File.Next <Cmd>next<CR>
637
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000638Note that the '<' and 'k' flags in 'cpoptions' also apply here (when
639included they make the <> form and raw key codes not being recognized).
640
641Note that <Esc> in Cmdline mode executes the command, like in a mapping. This
642is Vi compatible. Use CTRL-C to quit Cmdline mode.
643
Bram Moolenaard58a3bf2020-09-28 21:48:16 +0200644 *:nme* *:nmenu* *:nnoreme* *:nnoremenu* *:nunme* *:nunmenu*
645Menu commands starting with "n" work in Normal mode. |mapmode-n|
646
647 *:ome* *:omenu* *:onoreme* *:onoremenu* *:ounme* *:ounmenu*
648Menu commands starting with "o" work in Operator-pending mode. |mapmode-o|
649
650 *:vme* *:vmenu* *:vnoreme* *:vnoremenu* *:vunme* *:vunmenu*
651Menu commands starting with "v" work in Visual mode. |mapmode-v|
652
653 *:xme* *:xmenu* *:xnoreme* *:xnoremenu* *:xunme* *:xunmenu*
654Menu commands starting with "x" work in Visual and Select mode. |mapmode-x|
655
656 *:sme* *:smenu* *:snoreme* *:snoremenu* *:sunme* *:sunmenu*
657Menu commands starting with "s" work in Select mode. |mapmode-s|
658
659 *:ime* *:imenu* *:inoreme* *:inoremenu* *:iunme* *:iunmenu*
660Menu commands starting with "i" work in Insert mode. |mapmode-i|
661
662 *:cme* *:cmenu* *:cnoreme* *:cnoremenu* *:cunme* *:cunmenu*
663Menu commands starting with "c" work in Cmdline mode. |mapmode-c|
664
665 *:tlm* *:tlmenu* *:tln* *:tlnoremenu* *:tlu* *:tlunmenu*
666Menu commands starting with "tl" work in Terminal mode. |mapmode-t|
667
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000668 *:menu-<silent>* *:menu-silent*
669To define a menu which will not be echoed on the command line, add
670"<silent>" as the first argument. Example: >
671 :menu <silent> Settings.Ignore\ case :set ic<CR>
672The ":set ic" will not be echoed when using this menu. Messages from the
673executed command are still given though. To shut them up too, add a ":silent"
674in the executed command: >
675 :menu <silent> Search.Header :exe ":silent normal /Header\r"<CR>
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +0000676"<silent>" may also appear just after "<special>" or "<script>".
677
678 *:menu-<special>* *:menu-special*
679Define a menu with <> notation for special keys, even though the "<" flag
680may appear in 'cpoptions'. This is useful if the side effect of setting
681'cpoptions' is not desired. Example: >
682 :menu <special> Search.Header /Header<CR>
683"<special>" must appear as the very first argument to the ":menu" command or
684just after "<silent>" or "<script>".
685
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000686 *:menu-<script>* *:menu-script*
687The "to" part of the menu will be inspected for mappings. If you don't want
688this, use the ":noremenu" command (or the similar one for a specific mode).
689If you do want to use script-local mappings, add "<script>" as the very first
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +0000690argument to the ":menu" command or just after "<silent>" or "<special>".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000691
692 *menu-priority*
693You can give a priority to a menu. Menus with a higher priority go more to
694the right. The priority is given as a number before the ":menu" command.
695Example: >
696 :80menu Buffer.next :bn<CR>
697
698The default menus have these priorities:
699 File 10
700 Edit 20
701 Tools 40
702 Syntax 50
703 Buffers 60
704 Window 70
705 Help 9999
706
707When no or zero priority is given, 500 is used.
708The priority for the PopUp menu is not used.
709
710The Help menu will be placed on the far right side of the menu bar on systems
Bram Moolenaar98921892016-02-23 17:14:37 +0100711which support this (Motif and GTK+). For GTK+ 2 and 3, this is not done
712anymore because right-aligning the Help menu is now discouraged UI design.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000713
714You can use a priority higher than 9999, to make it go after the Help menu,
715but that is non-standard and is discouraged. The highest possible priority is
716about 32000. The lowest is 1.
717
718 *sub-menu-priority*
719The same mechanism can be used to position a sub-menu. The priority is then
720given as a dot-separated list of priorities, before the menu name: >
721 :menu 80.500 Buffer.next :bn<CR>
722Giving the sub-menu priority is only needed when the item is not to be put
723in a normal position. For example, to put a sub-menu before the other items: >
724 :menu 80.100 Buffer.first :brew<CR>
725Or to put a sub-menu after the other items, and further items with default
726priority will be put before it: >
727 :menu 80.900 Buffer.last :blast<CR>
728When a number is missing, the default value 500 will be used: >
729 :menu .900 myMenu.test :echo "text"<CR>
730The menu priority is only used when creating a new menu. When it already
731existed, e.g., in another mode, the priority will not change. Thus, the
732priority only needs to be given the first time a menu is used.
733An exception is the PopUp menu. There is a separate menu for each mode
734(Normal, Op-pending, Visual, Insert, Cmdline). The order in each of these
735menus can be different. This is different from menu-bar menus, which have
736the same order for all modes.
737NOTE: sub-menu priorities currently don't work for all versions of the GUI.
738
739 *menu-separator* *E332*
740Menu items can be separated by a special item that inserts some space between
741items. Depending on the system this is displayed as a line or a dotted line.
742These items must start with a '-' and end in a '-'. The part in between is
743used to give it a unique name. Priorities can be used as with normal items.
744Example: >
745 :menu Example.item1 :do something
746 :menu Example.-Sep- :
747 :menu Example.item2 :do something different
748Note that the separator also requires a rhs. It doesn't matter what it is,
749because the item will never be selected. Use a single colon to keep it
750simple.
751
752 *gui-toolbar*
Bram Moolenaar0b962e52022-04-03 18:02:37 +0100753The toolbar is currently available in the Win32, Motif, GTK+ (X11),
Bram Moolenaara9587612006-05-04 21:47:50 +0000754and Photon GUI. It should turn up in other GUIs in due course. The
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000755default toolbar is setup in menu.vim.
756The display of the toolbar is controlled by the 'guioptions' letter 'T'. You
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000757can thus have menu & toolbar together, or either on its own, or neither.
Bram Moolenaar06b5d512010-05-22 15:37:44 +0200758The appearance is controlled by the 'toolbar' option. You can choose between
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000759an image, text or both.
760
761 *toolbar-icon*
762The toolbar is defined as a special menu called ToolBar, which only has one
763level. Vim interprets the items in this menu as follows:
7641) If an "icon=" argument was specified, the file with this name is used.
765 The file can either be specified with the full path or with the base name.
766 In the last case it is searched for in the "bitmaps" directory in
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000767 'runtimepath', like in point 3. Examples: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000768 :amenu icon=/usr/local/pixmaps/foo_icon.xpm ToolBar.Foo :echo "Foo"<CR>
769 :amenu icon=FooIcon ToolBar.Foo :echo "Foo"<CR>
770< Note that in the first case the extension is included, while in the second
771 case it is omitted.
772 If the file cannot be opened the next points are tried.
773 A space in the file name must be escaped with a backslash.
774 A menu priority must come _after_ the icon argument: >
775 :amenu icon=foo 1.42 ToolBar.Foo :echo "42!"<CR>
7762) An item called 'BuiltIn##', where ## is a number, is taken as number ## of
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000777 the built-in bitmaps available in Vim. Currently there are 31 numbered
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000778 from 0 to 30 which cover most common editing operations |builtin-tools|. >
779 :amenu ToolBar.BuiltIn22 :call SearchNext("back")<CR>
7803) An item with another name is first searched for in the directory
781 "bitmaps" in 'runtimepath'. If found, the bitmap file is used as the
782 toolbar button image. Note that the exact filename is OS-specific: For
783 example, under Win32 the command >
784 :amenu ToolBar.Hello :echo "hello"<CR>
785< would find the file 'hello.bmp'. Under GTK+/X11 it is 'Hello.xpm'. With
786 GTK+ 2 the files 'Hello.png', 'Hello.xpm' and 'Hello.bmp' are checked for
787 existence, and the first one found would be used.
788 For MS-Windows and GTK+ 2 the bitmap is scaled to fit the button. For
789 MS-Windows a size of 18 by 18 pixels works best.
790 For MS-Windows the bitmap should have 16 colors with the standard palette.
791 The light grey pixels will be changed to the Window frame color and the
792 dark grey pixels to the window shadow color. More colors might also work,
793 depending on your system.
7944) If the bitmap is still not found, Vim checks for a match against its list
795 of built-in names. Each built-in button image has a name.
796 So the command >
797 :amenu ToolBar.Open :e
798< will show the built-in "open a file" button image if no open.bmp exists.
799 All the built-in names can be seen used in menu.vim.
8005) If all else fails, a blank, but functioning, button is displayed.
801
802 *builtin-tools*
803nr Name Normal action ~
80400 New open new window
80501 Open browse for file to open in current window
80602 Save write buffer to file
80703 Undo undo last change
80804 Redo redo last undone change
80905 Cut delete selected text to clipboard
81006 Copy copy selected text to clipboard
81107 Paste paste text from clipboard
81208 Print print current buffer
81309 Help open a buffer on Vim's builtin help
81410 Find start a search command
81511 SaveAll write all modified buffers to file
81612 SaveSesn write session file for current situation
81713 NewSesn write new session file
81814 LoadSesn load session file
81915 RunScript browse for file to run as a Vim script
82016 Replace prompt for substitute command
82117 WinClose close current window
82218 WinMax make current window use many lines
82319 WinMin make current window use few lines
82420 WinSplit split current window
82521 Shell start a shell
82622 FindPrev search again, backward
82723 FindNext search again, forward
82824 FindHelp prompt for word to search help for
82925 Make run make and jump to first error
83026 TagJump jump to tag under the cursor
83127 RunCtags build tags for files in current directory
83228 WinVSplit split current window vertically
83329 WinMaxWidth make current window use many columns
83430 WinMinWidth make current window use few columns
835
836 *hidden-menus* *win32-hidden-menus*
837In the Win32 and GTK+ GUI, starting a menu name with ']' excludes that menu
838from the main menu bar. You must then use the |:popup| or |:tearoff| command
839to display it.
840
Bram Moolenaar37c64c72017-09-19 22:06:03 +0200841 *window-toolbar* *WinBar*
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200842Each window can have a local toolbar. This uses the first line of the window,
Bram Moolenaar37c64c72017-09-19 22:06:03 +0200843thus reduces the space for the text by one line. The items in the toolbar
844must start with "WinBar".
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200845
Bram Moolenaar37c64c72017-09-19 22:06:03 +0200846Only text can be used. When using Unicode, special characters can be used to
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200847make the items look like icons.
848
849If the items do not fit then the last ones cannot be used. The toolbar does
850not wrap.
851
Bram Moolenaar24a98a02017-09-27 22:23:55 +0200852Note that Vim may be in any mode when executing these commands. The menu
853should be defined for Normal mode and will be executed without changing the
854current mode. Thus if the current window is in Visual mode and the menu
855command does not intentionally change the mode, Vim will remain in Visual
856mode. Best is to use `:nnoremenu` to avoid side effects.
857
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200858Example for debugger tools: >
Bram Moolenaar24a98a02017-09-27 22:23:55 +0200859 nnoremenu 1.10 WinBar.Step :Step<CR>
860 nnoremenu 1.20 WinBar.Next :Next<CR>
861 nnoremenu 1.30 WinBar.Finish :Finish<CR>
862 nnoremenu 1.40 WinBar.Cont :Continue<CR>
Bram Moolenaardd60c362023-02-27 15:49:53 +0000863< *hl-ToolbarLine* *hl-ToolbarButton*
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200864The window toolbar uses the ToolbarLine and ToolbarButton highlight groups.
865
Bram Moolenaar37c64c72017-09-19 22:06:03 +0200866When splitting the window the window toolbar is not copied to the new window.
867
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000868 *popup-menu*
Bram Moolenaar0b962e52022-04-03 18:02:37 +0100869In the Win32, GTK+, Motif and Photon GUI, you can define the
Bram Moolenaara3ffd9c2005-07-21 21:03:15 +0000870special menu "PopUp". This is the menu that is displayed when the right mouse
871button is pressed, if 'mousemodel' is set to popup or popup_setpos.
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200872Example: >
873 nnoremenu 1.40 PopUp.&Paste "+gP
874 menu PopUp
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000875
876
8775.3 Showing What Menus Are Mapped To *showing-menus*
878
879To see what an existing menu is mapped to, use just one argument after the
880menu commands (just like you would with the ":map" commands). If the menu
881specified is a submenu, then all menus under that hierarchy will be shown.
882If no argument is given after :menu at all, then ALL menu items are shown
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000883for the appropriate mode (e.g., Command-line mode for :cmenu).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000884
885Special characters in the list, just before the rhs:
886* The menu was defined with "nore" to disallow remapping.
887& The menu was defined with "<script>" to allow remapping script-local
888 mappings only.
Bram Moolenaarff781552020-03-19 20:37:11 +0100889s The menu was defined with "<silent>" to avoid showing what it is
890 mapped to when triggered.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000891- The menu was disabled.
892
893Note that hitting <Tab> while entering a menu name after a menu command may
894be used to complete the name of the menu item.
895
Bram Moolenaard13166e2022-11-18 21:49:57 +0000896It is not allowed to change menus while listing them. *E1310*
897This doesn't normally happen, only when, for example, you would have a timer
898callback define a menu and the user lists menus in a way it shows
899|more-prompt|.
900
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000901
9025.4 Executing Menus *execute-menus*
903
904 *:em* *:emenu* *E334* *E335*
905:[range]em[enu] {menu} Execute {menu} from the command line.
906 The default is to execute the Normal mode
907 menu. If a range is specified, it executes
908 the Visual mode menu.
909 If used from <c-o>, it executes the
910 insert-mode menu Eg: >
911 :emenu File.Exit
912
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +0200913:[range]em[enu] {mode} {menu} Like above, but execute the menu for {mode}:
914 'n': |:nmenu| Normal mode
915 'v': |:vmenu| Visual mode
916 's': |:smenu| Select mode
917 'o': |:omenu| Operator-pending mode
918 't': |:tlmenu| Terminal mode
919 'i': |:imenu| Insert mode
920 'c': |:cmenu| Cmdline mode
Bram Moolenaarf0d58ef2018-11-16 16:13:44 +0100921
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +0200922
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000923If the console-mode vim has been compiled with WANT_MENU defined, you can
924use :emenu to access useful menu items you may have got used to from GUI
925mode. See 'wildmenu' for an option that works well with this. See
926|console-menus| for an example.
927
928When using a range, if the lines match with '<,'>, then the menu is executed
929using the last visual selection.
930
931
9325.5 Deleting Menus *delete-menus*
933
934 *:unme* *:unmenu*
935 *:aun* *:aunmenu*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000936To delete a menu item or a whole submenu, use the unmenu commands, which are
937analogous to the unmap commands. Eg: >
938 :unmenu! Edit.Paste
939
940This will remove the Paste item from the Edit menu for Insert and
941Command-line modes.
942
943Note that hitting <Tab> while entering a menu name after an umenu command
944may be used to complete the name of the menu item for the appropriate mode.
945
946To remove all menus use: *:unmenu-all* >
947 :unmenu * " remove all menus in Normal and visual mode
948 :unmenu! * " remove all menus in Insert and Command-line mode
Bram Moolenaarf42b45d2019-01-06 13:11:05 +0100949 :aunmenu * " remove all menus in all modes, except for Terminal
950 " mode
951 :tlunmenu * " remove all menus in Terminal mode
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000952
953If you want to get rid of the menu bar: >
954 :set guioptions-=m
955
956
9575.6 Disabling Menus *disable-menus*
958
959 *:menu-disable* *:menu-enable*
960If you do not want to remove a menu, but disable it for a moment, this can be
961done by adding the "enable" or "disable" keyword to a ":menu" command.
962Examples: >
963 :menu disable &File.&Open\.\.\.
964 :amenu enable *
965 :amenu disable &Tools.*
966
967The command applies to the modes as used with all menu commands. Note that
968characters like "&" need to be included for translated names to be found.
969When the argument is "*", all menus are affected. Otherwise the given menu
970name and all existing submenus below it are affected.
971
972
9735.7 Examples for Menus *menu-examples*
974
Shane Harperc1b39842024-07-17 19:40:40 +0200975Here is an example on how to add menu items with menus. You can add a menu
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000976item for the keyword under the cursor. The register "z" is used. >
977
978 :nmenu Words.Add\ Var wb"zye:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z<CR>
979 :nmenu Words.Remove\ Var wb"zye:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>
980 :vmenu Words.Add\ Var "zy:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z <CR>
981 :vmenu Words.Remove\ Var "zy:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>
982 :imenu Words.Add\ Var <Esc>wb"zye:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z<CR>a
983 :imenu Words.Remove\ Var <Esc>wb"zye:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>a
984
985(the rhs is in <> notation, you can copy/paste this text to try out the
986mappings, or put these lines in your gvimrc; "<C-R>" is CTRL-R, "<CR>" is
987the <CR> key. |<>|)
988
Bram Moolenaar0eabd4d2020-03-15 16:13:53 +0100989 *tooltips* *menu-tips*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00009905.8 Tooltips & Menu tips
991
992See section |42.4| in the user manual.
993
994 *:tmenu* *:tm*
995:tm[enu] {menupath} {rhs} Define a tip for a menu or tool. {only in
996 X11 and Win32 GUI}
997
998:tm[enu] [menupath] List menu tips. {only in X11 and Win32 GUI}
999
1000 *:tunmenu* *:tu*
1001:tu[nmenu] {menupath} Remove a tip for a menu or tool.
1002 {only in X11 and Win32 GUI}
1003
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +02001004Note: To create menus for terminal mode, use |:tlmenu| instead.
1005
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001006When a tip is defined for a menu item, it appears in the command-line area
1007when the mouse is over that item, much like a standard Windows menu hint in
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001008the status bar. (Except when Vim is in Command-line mode, when of course
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001009nothing is displayed.)
1010When a tip is defined for a ToolBar item, it appears as a tooltip when the
1011mouse pauses over that button, in the usual fashion. Use the |hl-Tooltip|
1012highlight group to change its colors.
1013
1014A "tip" can be defined for each menu item. For example, when defining a menu
1015item like this: >
1016 :amenu MyMenu.Hello :echo "Hello"<CR>
1017The tip is defined like this: >
1018 :tmenu MyMenu.Hello Displays a greeting.
1019And delete it with: >
1020 :tunmenu MyMenu.Hello
1021
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001022Tooltips are currently only supported for the X11 and Win32 GUI. However, they
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001023should appear for the other gui platforms in the not too distant future.
1024
1025The ":tmenu" command works just like other menu commands, it uses the same
1026arguments. ":tunmenu" deletes an existing menu tip, in the same way as the
1027other unmenu commands.
1028
1029If a menu item becomes invalid (i.e. its actions in all modes are deleted) Vim
1030deletes the menu tip (and the item) for you. This means that :aunmenu deletes
1031a menu item - you don't need to do a :tunmenu as well.
1032
1033
10345.9 Popup Menus
1035
1036In the Win32 and GTK+ GUI, you can cause a menu to popup at the cursor.
1037This behaves similarly to the PopUp menus except that any menu tree can
1038be popped up.
1039
1040This command is for backwards compatibility, using it is discouraged, because
1041it behaves in a strange way.
1042
1043 *:popup* *:popu*
1044:popu[p] {name} Popup the menu {name}. The menu named must
1045 have at least one subentry, but need not
1046 appear on the menu-bar (see |hidden-menus|).
Bram Moolenaarb5b75622018-03-09 22:22:21 +01001047 {only available for Win32 and GTK GUI or in
Bram Moolenaar06fe74a2019-08-31 16:20:32 +02001048 the terminal}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001049
Bram Moolenaar97409f12005-07-08 22:17:29 +00001050:popu[p]! {name} Like above, but use the position of the mouse
1051 pointer instead of the cursor.
Bram Moolenaarb5b75622018-03-09 22:22:21 +01001052 In the terminal this is the last known
1053 position, which is usually at the last click
Bram Moolenaar0b0f0992018-05-22 21:41:30 +02001054 or release (mouse movement is irrelevant).
Bram Moolenaar97409f12005-07-08 22:17:29 +00001055
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001056Example: >
1057 :popup File
Bram Moolenaar97409f12005-07-08 22:17:29 +00001058will make the "File" menu (if there is one) appear at the text cursor (mouse
1059pointer if ! was used). >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001060
1061 :amenu ]Toolbar.Make :make<CR>
1062 :popup ]Toolbar
1063This creates a popup menu that doesn't exist on the main menu-bar.
1064
Bram Moolenaarb5b75622018-03-09 22:22:21 +01001065Note that in the GUI the :popup command will return immediately, before a
1066selection has been made. In the terminal the commands waits for the user to
1067make a selection.
1068
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001069Note that a menu that starts with ']' will not be displayed.
1070
1071==============================================================================
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +020010726. Font
1073
1074This section describes font related options.
1075
1076GUIFONT *gui-font*
1077
1078'guifont' is the option that tells Vim what font to use. In its simplest form
1079the value is just one font name. It can also be a list of font names
1080separated with commas. The first valid font is used. When no valid font can
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001081be found you will get an error message.
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001082
1083On systems where 'guifontset' is supported (X11) and 'guifontset' is not
1084empty, then 'guifont' is not used. See |xfontset|.
1085
1086Note: As to the GTK GUIs, no error is given against any invalid names, and the
1087first element of the list is always picked up and made use of. This is
1088because, instead of identifying a given name with a font, the GTK GUIs use it
1089to construct a pattern and try to look up a font which best matches the
1090pattern among available fonts, and this way, the matching never fails. An
1091invalid name doesn't matter because a number of font properties other than
1092name will do to get the matching done.
1093
1094Spaces after a comma are ignored. To include a comma in a font name precede
1095it with a backslash. Setting an option requires an extra backslash before a
1096space and a backslash. See also |option-backslash|. For example: >
1097 :set guifont=Screen15,\ 7x13,font\\,with\\,commas
1098will make Vim try to use the font "Screen15" first, and if it fails it will
1099try to use "7x13" and then "font,with,commas" instead.
1100
1101If none of the fonts can be loaded, Vim will keep the current setting. If an
1102empty font list is given, Vim will try using other resource settings (for X,
1103it will use the Vim.font resource), and finally it will try some builtin
1104default which should always be there ("7x13" in the case of X). The font
1105names given should be "normal" fonts. Vim will try to find the related bold
1106and italic fonts.
1107
1108For Win32, GTK, Motif, Mac OS and Photon: >
1109 :set guifont=*
1110will bring up a font requester, where you can pick the font you want.
1111
1112The font name depends on the GUI used. See |setting-guifont| for a way to set
1113'guifont' for various systems.
1114
1115For the GTK+ 2 and 3 GUIs, the font name looks like this: >
1116 :set guifont=Andale\ Mono\ 11
1117That's all. XLFDs are not used. For Chinese this is reported to work well: >
1118 if has("gui_gtk2")
1119 set guifont=Bitstream\ Vera\ Sans\ Mono\ 12,Fixed\ 12
1120 set guifontwide=Microsoft\ Yahei\ 12,WenQuanYi\ Zen\ Hei\ 12
1121 endif
1122<
1123(Replace gui_gtk2 with gui_gtk3 for the GTK+ 3 GUI)
1124
1125For Mac OSX you can use something like this: >
1126 :set guifont=Monaco:h10
Bram Moolenaar3d1cde82020-08-15 18:55:18 +02001127
1128Mono-spaced fonts *E236*
1129
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001130Note that the fonts must be mono-spaced (all characters have the same width).
1131An exception is GTK: all fonts are accepted, but mono-spaced fonts look best.
1132
1133To preview a font on X11, you might be able to use the "xfontsel" program.
1134The "xlsfonts" program gives a list of all available fonts.
1135
1136For the Win32 GUI *E244* *E245*
1137- Takes these options in the font name (use a ':' to separate the options):
1138 hXX - height is XX (points, can be floating-point)
1139 wXX - width is XX (points, can be floating-point)
1140 WXX - weight is XX (see Note on Weights below)
1141 b - bold. This is equivalent to setting the weight to 700.
1142 i - italic
1143 u - underline
1144 s - strikeout
1145 cXX - character set XX. Valid charsets are: ANSI, ARABIC, BALTIC,
1146 CHINESEBIG5, DEFAULT, EASTEUROPE, GB2312, GREEK, HANGEUL,
1147 HEBREW, JOHAB, MAC, OEM, RUSSIAN, SHIFTJIS, SYMBOL, THAI,
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001148 TURKISH and VIETNAMESE. Normally you would use "cDEFAULT".
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001149 qXX - quality XX. Valid quality names are: PROOF, DRAFT, ANTIALIASED,
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001150 NONANTIALIASED, CLEARTYPE and DEFAULT. Normally you would use
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001151 "qDEFAULT".
1152 Some quality values are not supported in legacy OSs.
1153- A '_' can be used in the place of a space, so you don't need to use
1154 backslashes to escape the spaces.
1155Examples: >
1156 :set guifont=courier_new:h12:w5:b:cRUSSIAN
1157 :set guifont=Andale_Mono:h7.5:w4.5
1158
1159See also |font-sizes|.
1160
1161Note on Weights: Fonts often come with a variety of weights. "Normal" weights
1162in Windows have a value of 400 and, left unspecified, this is the value that
1163will be used when attempting to find fonts. Windows will often match fonts
1164based on their weight with higher priority than the font name which means a
1165Book or Medium variant of a font might be used despite specifying a Light or
1166ExtraLight variant. If you are experiencing heavier weight substitution, then
1167explicitly setting a lower weight value may mitigate against this unwanted
1168substitution.
1169
1170
1171GUIFONTWIDE *gui-fontwide*
1172
1173When not empty, 'guifontwide' specifies a comma-separated list of fonts to be
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001174used for double-width characters. The first font that can be loaded is used.
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001175
1176Note: The size of these fonts must be exactly twice as wide as the one
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001177specified with 'guifont' and the same height. If there is a mismatch then the
1178text will not be drawn correctly.
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001179
1180All GUI versions but GTK+:
1181
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001182'guifontwide' is only used when 'encoding' is set to "utf-8" and 'guifontset'
1183is empty or invalid.
1184When 'guifont' is set and a valid font is found in it and 'guifontwide' is
1185empty Vim will attempt to find a matching double-width font and set
1186'guifontwide' to it.
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001187
Bram Moolenaar938ae282023-02-20 20:44:55 +00001188GTK+ GUI only: *guifontwide_gtk*
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001189
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001190If set and valid, 'guifontwide' is always used for double width characters,
1191even if 'encoding' is not set to "utf-8".
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001192Vim does not attempt to find an appropriate value for 'guifontwide'
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001193automatically. If 'guifontwide' is empty Pango/Xft will choose the font for
1194characters not available in 'guifont'. Thus you do not need to set
1195'guifontwide' at all unless you want to override the choice made by Pango/Xft.
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001196
1197Windows +multibyte only: *guifontwide_win_mbyte*
1198
1199If set and valid, 'guifontwide' is used for IME instead of 'guifont'.
1200
1201==============================================================================
12027. Extras *gui-extras*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001203
1204This section describes other features which are related to the GUI.
1205
1206- With the GUI, there is no wait for one second after hitting escape, because
1207 the key codes don't start with <Esc>.
1208
1209- Typing ^V followed by a special key in the GUI will insert "<Key>", since
1210 the internal string used is meaningless. Modifiers may also be held down to
1211 get "<Modifiers-Key>".
1212
1213- In the GUI, the modifiers SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT (or META) may be used within
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001214 mappings of special keys and mouse events.
1215 E.g.: :map <M-LeftDrag> <LeftDrag>
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001216
1217- In the GUI, several normal keys may have modifiers in mappings etc, these
1218 are <Space>, <Tab>, <NL>, <CR>, <Esc>.
1219
1220- To check in a Vim script if the GUI is being used, you can use something
1221 like this: >
1222
1223 if has("gui_running")
1224 echo "yes, we have a GUI"
1225 else
1226 echo "Boring old console"
1227 endif
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001228< *setting-guifont*
1229- When you use the same vimrc file on various systems, you can use something
1230 like this to set options specifically for each type of GUI: >
1231
1232 if has("gui_running")
Bram Moolenaarb7398fe2023-05-14 18:50:25 +01001233 if has("gui_gtk")
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001234 :set guifont=Luxi\ Mono\ 12
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001235 elseif has("x11")
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001236 :set guifont=*-lucidatypewriter-medium-r-normal-*-*-180-*-*-m-*-*
1237 elseif has("gui_win32")
1238 :set guifont=Luxi_Mono:h12:cANSI
1239 endif
1240 endif
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001241
Bram Moolenaar030f0df2006-02-21 22:02:53 +00001242A recommended Japanese font is MS Mincho. You can find info here:
Christian Brabandt1c5728e2024-05-11 11:12:40 +02001243https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/font-list/ms-mincho
1244It should be distributed with Windows.
Bram Moolenaar030f0df2006-02-21 22:02:53 +00001245
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001246==============================================================================
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +020012478. Shell Commands *gui-shell*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001248
1249For the X11 GUI the external commands are executed inside the gvim window.
1250See |gui-pty|.
1251
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001252WARNING: Executing an external command from the X11 GUI will not always work.
1253"normal" commands like "ls", "grep" and "make" mostly work fine.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001254Commands that require an intelligent terminal like "less" and "ispell" won't
1255work. Some may even hang and need to be killed from another terminal. So be
1256careful!
1257
1258For the Win32 GUI the external commands are executed in a separate window.
1259See |gui-shell-win32|.
1260
Bram Moolenaar91f84f62018-07-29 15:07:52 +02001261 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: